Time to get another mic

JDOD

JDOD

therecordingrebels.com
OK, finally realising that I'm gonna have to stop doing absolutely everything with an SM57 so will probably get a 2nd mic.

I will still record my electric with a 57 but am thinking of adding a condenser in the room.
I'll also be using it for vocals and maybe if I record anything else accoustic - so far I just plug my accoustic in direct using a blend of its internal mic and piezo.

As much as I hate buying cheesey boxed sets with pretty girls on it, this appears to be good value:
Rode NT1A Complete Vocal Recording System | Andertons

Also, I was thinking of getting a new Focusrite as my old TonePort has a few drawbacks and I came across this:
Focusrite Scarlett Studio Bundle - 2i2 Interface w/ CM25 Mic, | Andertons
OK, I know the mic will probably be moderately shit, but will it really be that bad for what I want it for?
 
I just watched this video last night of Warren Huart putting together a song with that Scarlett 2i2 package. The 2i2 has its drawbacks, but it has some great bang for the buck if you're looking for an entry-level setup. The mic seemed good considering its cost.

I think that the Rode would probably blow the Focusrite mic out of the water as far as overall quality, although I do hear people complain about the NT1A having too hyped of a high end.

 
Tadpui said:
I do hear people complain about the NT1A having too hyped of a high end.
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that's the problem with all ldc mics from china. they need to be modded in order for high end to sound good.

the focusrite preamps are good so long as you don't push the gain too much (e.g. a ribbon or hungry dynamic). then they get pretty noisy.
 
Dude - what Toneport do you have? The UX1 does not have phantom power, which you'll need for a condenser mic. The UX2 does have phantom, but I'd be looking on upgrading my interface as next step. the 2i2 does not have MIDI, but you probably don't need that anyway.
 
mjbphotos said:
Dude - what Toneport do you have? The UX1 does not have phantom power, which you'll need for a condenser mic. The UX2 does have phantom, but I'd be looking on upgrading my interface as next step. the 2i2 does not have MIDI, but you probably don't need that anyway.
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UX2. as I said, I'm thinking of upgrading it. I've had it a very long time now! Not had any real trouble with it though and Line 6 support have been really good.
 
Tad, I've never seen a video by that guy before but he's good. He doesn't try and baffle you or show off. He just sensibly demos the gear... As I said, I've been thinking of getting another interface for a while.. Could do with a mic... And I'm struggling to find a drawback at that price.
 
Nola said:
that's the problem with all ldc mics from china. they need to be modded in order for high end to sound good.
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That statement is way too general to be useful.

The Rode is not 'from China'. It is made in Australia. The earlier ones used a Chinese capsule. The frequency response chart shows a bump around 12k ~ 15k, hence the observations about the high end. However, it does not need to be modded to make it sound good.
 
Yeah, +1 I'm afraid.
The NT1a is plenty bright but I never found it particularly harsh or anything and, as Gecko says, there are variations anyway.

I damaged the capsule in mine and replaced it with something I really like, but I liked it just fine before that.
 
JDOD said:
UX2. as I said, I'm thinking of upgrading it. I've had it a very long time now! Not had any real trouble with it though and Line 6 support have been really good.
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I can't imagine the Focusrite is really much better than the UX2, but it's probably not any worse.

Except do you have PodFarm or other Line6 software for which this thing acts as a dongle? You don't actually have to use it as an interface in order to keep using that stuff, but it will need to stay plugged into your machine. I have a UX1 hanging out the back of my studio machine because I'm too cheap to pay for the standalone license.
 
"OK, I know the mic will probably be moderately shit, but will it really be that bad for what I want it for?"

If you go into it convinced that the microphone will be shit, you probably won't like it. You might want to try the NT-USB and skip the Focusrite. It's a very nice microphone. The only Rode microphone that I haven't really been crazy about is the Podcaster (dynamic).
 
Another +1 for the NT1a. I've had mine for around 8 years, and it's still in great condition despite being treated like shit. It's been left out on the stand without a dust cover for months on end, been jostled around more than enough and it still works like it did when I pulled it out of the box for the first time. Same as Steen said, it's got a little peak in the highs but it's far from unusable - nowhere near harsh.
 
Nola said:
that's the problem with all ldc mics from china. they need to be modded in order for high end to sound good.

the focusrite preamps are good so long as you don't push the gain too much (e.g. a ribbon or hungry dynamic). then they get pretty noisy.
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Rode mics are totally made in Australia. :)

The high end on my NT-1As sounds great, particularly in a busy mix.

JDude, I wholeheartedly recommend the combination of Focusrite Scarlett and NT-1a. I'm very, very pleased with mine. The stock preamps on the Scarlett stuff are great, much better than the Presonus that I changed from. The Rode has extremely low self-noise, too. I'm a Rode fanboy, I recently bought a matched pair of their NT-5s for my drum overheads and they're brilliant.
 
Bubba po said:
Rode mics are totally made in Australia. :)

The high end on my NT-1As sounds great, particularly in a busy mix.

JDude, I wholeheartedly recommend the combination of Focusrite Scarlett and NT-1a. I'm very, very pleased with mine. The stock preamps on the Scarlett stuff are great, much better than the Presonus that I changed from. The Rode has extremely low self-noise, too. I'm a Rode fanboy, I recently bought a matched pair of their NT-5s for my drum overheads and they're brilliant.
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Cool, I think I'll go for that cheapo kit with the Focusrite, cheap condenser and headphones (I could do with more headphones anyway). The UX2 is starting to get on my tits a bit - mainly that you don't have a true real time monitoring option. You have to run it through Gearbox to be able to live monitor (or get massive latency if you monitor from Reaper). You can bypass the tone engine in Gearbox but still, its not ideal.
 
JDOD said:
Cool, I think I'll go for that cheapo kit with the Focusrite, cheap condenser and headphones (I could do with more headphones anyway). The UX2 is starting to get on my tits a bit - mainly that you don't have a true real time monitoring option. You have to run it through Gearbox to be able to live monitor (or get massive latency if you monitor from Reaper). You can bypass the tone engine in Gearbox but still, its not ideal.
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Fair enough - the kit looks good value. Look forward to hearing your new stuff. :)
 
JDOD said:
Cool, I think I'll go for that cheapo kit with the Focusrite, cheap condenser and headphones (I could do with more headphones anyway). The UX2 is starting to get on my tits a bit - mainly that you don't have a true real time monitoring option. You have to run it through Gearbox to be able to live monitor (or get massive latency if you monitor from Reaper). You can bypass the tone engine in Gearbox but still, its not ideal.
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I'm not sure why you would be getting 'massive latency' monitoring from Reaper. In the top right corner, when you have Reaper open, it shows the in and out latency in milliseconds. Are these really big?
 
gecko zzed said:
I'm not sure why you would be getting 'massive latency' monitoring from Reaper. In the top right corner, when you have Reaper open, it shows the in and out latency in milliseconds. Are these really big?
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When I was trying out some DAWs in December, I downloaded some trial versions to try them out. Prior to this, I had only used Audition and Audacity. When I hit Reaper, I had massive latency driving me nuts. After googling the problem a bit, I had to make an adjustment to the settings (buffer size?). Ultimately, I stuck with Adobe Audition, but the latency thing really astonished me because I have a very fast Mac Mini.
 
Reaper has the ability to "request" a buffer size and sample rate from your interface. I think that it defaults to something like 512 samples. That's not all that big, but big enough to cause some noticeable latency. All you have to do is either change the settings in Reaper or in your interface's ASIO buffer (preferably both, to avoid confusion). That's just part of using an audio interface...gotta find the right ASIO buffer size for your interface/computer.
 
When it's time to get another mic it's usually because your expectations or real needs have changed. The trouble is that a 57 is a great do almost anything mic, and when you buy mic 2, it is never as generic. Mic 3 is even worse.
 
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